High Court Creates Employment Test for Vendor Relationships

The Tennessee Supreme Court, in reversing lower court decisions dismissing a sales representative's negligence action, created an initial test to assess the nature of a vendor agreement before delving into whether a vendor can be considered a statutory employer. To determine whether Section 50-6-113 applies, the high court formally adopted the predominant purpose test for business relationships involving goods and services, with the warning that the written contract doesn't necessarily dictate the outcome. Courts must assess whether services rendered are incidental to the sale of good...